Ditch Your Face Wash For Natural Honey Cleansing

We love natural solutions to skin care. Honey is one of our favorites.

Cleansing your face with honey may sound like yet another to miss if you want to avoid a sticky situation, but hear us out. Not only can you save a little extra dollar by swapping out your regular face wash, but if you have sensitive skin, it may be just the ticket to getting a good cleanse without over-stripping your face.

Face It, Honey

Honey makes an appearance in plenty of natural beauty products, and for good reason. One thing it’s famous for is its humectant properties, so when part of a skincare regime, it helps to draw moisture into the skin. If your face usually feels parched after cleansing, it’s not a great sign (dry doesn’t equal clean), so simple honey cleansing will help soothe and hydrate.

Ever heard that honey is a natural blemish buster, too? Well, you heard right. Many acne treatments on the market are packed with hydrogen peroxide, which is an effective antibacterial agent and antiseptic. Honey naturally produces this compound, but without all the nasties that come along with traditional acne treatments. The slightly acidic pH of the sweet stuff (it varies depending on the type of honey) has antimicrobial benefits too, while anti-inflammatory properties bring down redness and speed along the healing for breakouts that refuse to shift.

Pure and Potent

If you want to reap the full beauty benefits of honey, then raw is the way to go. The pasteurization process that your average pot of clear honey undergoes destroys much of the naturally occurring enzymes and goodness, so it’s worth splurging a little extra on the real deal. If you see unfiltered, unpasteurized or raw on the label, then you’re set (like honey, get it?). Plus, let’s face it, it’s going to taste better when you accidentally put too much on your lips, right?

For even more muscle, grab yourself a jar of manuka honey. Practically liquid gold in the health world, it’s created only in New Zealand, where bees gather pollen from the manuka tree. The resulting honey contains a unique compound called methylglyoxal, which makes it off-the-scale antibacterial and antiviral compared to other varieties of honey.

How-To Start Honey Cleansing

1. Honey cleansing is most effective in the morning, but if you want to use it in the evenings too, make sure you remove any makeup or excess dirt first.

2. Dampen or lightly rinse your face with water. This will stop the honey from feeling sticky, and allow it glide across your skin smoothly.

3. You shouldn’t need more than a teaspoon to gently massage into your face. If you use a konjac sponge, you can get extra busy in this step as it’s a great tool to incorporate into honey cleansing.

4. For days when you’re breaking out, or skin is feeling extra dry, leave the honey to sit on your face for 5-10 minutes as a mini face mask.

5. Simply rinse away with a muslin cloth (or your konjac sponge). Honey emulsifies with water so it should be easy to remove without any stickiness left behind.